Twilight retreated into the kitchen where her son greeted her enthusiastically as he took a sheet of cookies out of the oven and placed them on the counter. She felt the need to barricade the door with her body, at least until the burning sensation in her cheeks went away, which drew a curious glance from Spike.
“You okay?” the young pegasus asked.
“Rainbow’s friend is here,” Twilight said nonchalantly, “she’s in the lobby.”
“Oh!” Spike chirped. “We should go say hi! Wait, did you talk to her already? What’s she like?”
“She’s—” that burning feeling returned to Twilight’s cheeks and she choked down her reply. She cleared her throat and walked slowly, painfully, away from the door. “She’s everything Rainbow said she would be.”
“I wanna meet her!” Spike said, throwing his hands in the air.
“Yeah,” Twilight bit her lip, “we should go out there together. Just— just give me a second.”
Twilight sat down in a nearby chair and took a few deep breaths. Spike waited until she looked somewhat calm again to ask her “Are you sure you’re okay? You don’t look too good.”
“I’m just a little—” Twilight twitched the fingers on her right hand like she was using a typewriter as she tried to find the proper word. “I feel like there’s a swarm of angry bees rumbling around in my stomach.”
“You sure you don’t mean butterflies?” Spike tilted his head.
“Uh, maybe I do,” Twilight said sheepishly. Her ears suddenly perked up and she said, her voice cracking ever so slightly, “It’s actually fascinating! I’ve never felt like this before! I hate it! But also, I kinda like it? I think? I dunno!”
“Twilight, Twilight, Twilight,” Spike shook his head and clicked his tongue, walking over to pat Twilight on the leg. Twilight wanted to be annoyed by his condescension, but it was more adorable to her than anything. “It sounds like somebody has a crush.”
“Wh—no I don’t!” Twilight balked, standing straight up and nearly hitting her head on a hanging pan. “I don’t—that’s—I wouldn’t—”
“It’s nothing to get so worked up over, Twilight,” Spike crossed his arms and nodded confidently. “Sometimes that just happens when you’re not as cool and stoic as yours truly.”
“Is that right?” Twilight grinned and raised an eyebrow.
“Yep!” Spike said as he approached the door. “Now, how about you grab the milk and cookies, and you can just follow my lead as I show you how to talk to girls without getting all flustered and stuff! It’s easy!”
“Uh-huh,” Twilight rolled her eyes and collected the four plates and glasses in her magic, following Spike back into the lobby because she just had to see this.
Spike marched confidently into the lobby of the library, where Rainbow Dash and Rarity were already seated across from each other around a coffee table with several books piled up in front of them. Rainbow’s ears twitched as she heard the two approaching but she didn’t look up from her book, though Rarity turned her head to see them.
“Oh, hello!” she said with a charmed smile upon seeing Spike. “You must be Spike?”
Spike froze in his tracks immediately, his face turning bright red as he gurgled out his reply.
“Uh, buh hi.”
Rarity giggled and her smile widened, and Twilight was equally delighted by that and by Spike’s reaction, which was to run behind Twilight’s leg and grab onto it for dear life.
Twilight entertained the idea of relaying a teasing comment to Spike, but decided to just chuckle and place the milk and cookies on the table before grabbing Spike himself in her magic and levitating him into an empty chair next to Rainbow Dash, Twilight sitting in a chair at the end of the table, so she could be close to him but also see both Rarity and Rainbow.
As Twilight scanned the collection of books on the table, her brow furrowed and she frowned in disappointment. There were several bestiaries, a couple of adventure novels and some travel guides among them, but none of them would give her two guests the real information they needed if they were going to be dealing with something as dangerous as cragadiles.
Without really thinking, Twilight conjured the mental image of several different books that she wanted to present to the two Slayers before lighting up her horn and, with a spark of magic, teleporting to her three heavy volumes and a stack of loose papers bound in a makeshift leather strap, which she then placed gently on the table.
It was only after she did this that she looked up at the ponies sitting at the table with her, who all had their eyes on her. Spike had a proud smile, and Rainbow a mischievous grin, but it was Rarity’s reaction that captured Twilight’s attention.
Her eyes were wide and her mouth was half open, like she was staring at Twilight in awe. Twilight looked behind her worriedly, afraid she had been snuck up on by some dangerous creature, then looked over herself to make sure she hadn’t accidentally transformed into a monster or gotten blood on her somehow.
“How did you do that?” Rarity asked.
“Do wh— oh, oh!” Twilight cleared her throat bashfully. She had forgotten that long range teleportation of objects, multiple-object levitation and levitating ponies were not something most unicorns could do. “I’m, um—”
“Twilight’s a magical prodigy!” Spike relayed proudly, puffing up his chest. “She’s the best magician who’s ever lived!”
“I don’t know about that,” Twilight bit her lip and ran her fingers through the hair on the side of her face.
“Well even so,” Rarity said with a smile, folding her arms on the table, “I’m quite impressed!”
Twilight couldn’t help a pleased grin from coming over her, even as her cheeks felt at least twenty degrees hotter.
“So what’re these books, Twi?” Rainbow knocked on one of the books Twilight put on the table, snapping Twilight back to attention.
“This one is a journal of a pony who travelled all across Equestria,” Twilight explained, levitating the first book in her magic, “and he wrote about his encounter with a cragadile in one of his entries.
“This one,” Twilight floated another book, “is an obscure bestiary. The author is eccentric and not well-regarded amongst most ponies, so a lot of his books have fallen into obscurity, but his insight into rare beasts is unmatched.
“And this last one is the most comprehensive guide to swamp-based flora and fauna I’ve ever read, with an extensive article about cragadiles and their natural habits.”
“Wow,” Rainbow leaned back in her chair, eyes wide and grin even wider, “that’s incredible, Twi. I wouldn’t’ve even thought to grab books like those. I kinda just went for bestiaries.”
“That’s okay,” Twilight said coyly, “I wouldn’t be a very good librarian if I didn’t have a deep understanding of the books at my disposal.”
“And what about this one?” Rarity asked, caressing the stack of papers in her magic.
“Those are—” Twilight coughed, anxious about giving the answer. “Those are my personal notes. I’ve been putting together my own bestiary based on my travels and experiences, since I find a lot of the ones available to be a little dry. I have some notes about cragadiles that should be helpful in there.”
“My, my,” Rarity purred, placing her elbows on the table and resting her chin on her intertwined fingers, “you have your very own bestiary? Does our little librarian live a secret life of danger perhaps?”
“I’m, er, well-travelled, but—” Twilight glanced at Spike and let out a soft giggle as she saw he was still staring absolutely entranced at Rarity; she could practically see the hearts in his eyes. “I’m looking to settle down.”
Rarity hummed, and her smile grew. Twilight felt that familiar heat creeping up her cheeks again, and though she wanted to look away from Rarity’s eyes, she found she couldn’t bring herself to.
Twilight stared at Rarity, at her blue eyes and her enchanting smile, for what felt like an eternally slow moment, Twilight biting down on her lip before forcing her eyes away, her brow furrowing at the sight she landed on.
“Rainbow,” Twilight said as she recognized the Daring Do book Rainbow’s nose was in, “you aren’t actually considering riding the cragadile like a raft, are you?”
“Wh—you said it was possible!” Rainbow said defensively, slapping the book down on the table and blushing furiously.
“So is looking into the sun without going blind,” Twilight balked, “that doesn’t mean you should do it!”
Rarity giggled, and Twilight was absolutely bewitched by the sound. She was less endeared to Rainbow’s snickering, and her mood soured even more when she looked to see Rainbow looking right at her with a big grin on her face.
“What?” Twilight grunted, her eyes glancing quickly at Rarity, who had drawn herself back up and was now sitting properly in her chair, playing coyly with her mane, and for a fraction of a second Twilight was dumbstruck by just how impossibly beautiful Rarity was.
“Nothing, nothing,” Rainbow shrugged and exchanged a brief glance with Rarity, which seemed to fluster the unicorn as she quickly looked away from her partner. “Hey Spike,” Rainbow tapped Spike’s arm, getting the boy’s attention, “you wanna help me put some of these books away?”
“Uh, no?” Spike said confusedly. Rainbow frowned at her and quickly darted her eyes back and forth from Rarity to Spike, which only seemed to confuse him more.
Rarity sighed, and Twilight couldn’t help but feel she sounded uncomfortable. Twilight wondered if she had done something wrong, but before she could delve too deeply into that thought train, Spike spoke up again.
“Oh! Y-yeah! Rainbow, let me help you put these books away!” he said suddenly, grabbing all the books he could in his little hands, along with his plate of cookies, and trotted off into the rows of bookcases.
“Hey Rares,” Rainbow grabbed her own plate and glass of milk before giving Rarity a wink, “you can handle the research stuff on your own, right? I can’t read, sooooo…”
“I’m sure I’ll manage,” Rarity said with a playful roll of her eyes, and Twilight was sure that she mouthed the words ‘thank you’ to Rainbow before the pegasus smiled at her and followed Spike into the library.
“That was odd,” Twilight said, ever the dense one.
“Rainbow can be a bit impatient,” Rarity said, reaching her arm across the table until it was resting on one of the books that Twilight had brought, Rarity’s fingers tantalizing close to Twilight’s. “And I suppose she figured that it would be best for me and you to delve into this research business… at our own pace.”
“Oh, okay,” Twilight said with an oblivious smile, and Rarity laughed softly into her hand for some reason. “Where do you want to start?”
Rarity took a deep breath, and as she looked over to the bookcases where Rainbow and Spike had disappeared, she seemed to relax for the first time. She rested an elbow on the table, cheek gently propped up by her hand, and fluttered her eyelashes at Twilight, who could practically feel steam coming out of her ears.
“Darling,” Rarity whispered, sending a jolt of electricity up Twilight’s spine, “why don’t you tell me about your travels.”